


Where Ends Lie

by bloodrive



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Original work - Freeform, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-11-15 22:45:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18082373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodrive/pseuds/bloodrive
Summary: When Idrius, an introverted mechanic, becomes the victim of an attempted murder, a powerful, renowned mage by the name of “Moreaux” saves him from his demise. In return of this favor, the wizard asks him to accompany him on his journey to rid the country of an evil magic user known as “Olias”, along with his accomplices, who have pillaged the cities and towns for one reason: Idrius is the holder of the crystal of ultimate destruction. Join this unlikely pair in their adventure to save the country of Kraemos— or perhaps the whole world. All shall be revealed in the end.





	1. IMPORTANT: Author’s Note

First off, I just want to thank you for giving this story a chance and trying to read it!! I am a first-time writer, so I apologize for any grammar and writing mistakes I make. (~_~;)

I will also have this story uploaded onto different sites, meaning, it’s alright if the you see the same story on different publishing websites. (Wattpad.com, Quotev.com, etc.)

I am going to try and update this story weekly, so add this story to your collection to receive the updates!!! 

STORY GUIDELINES: 

-long ——— / ~~~~ / etc. = different persp.  
-short ——— / ~~~~ / etc. = time skip  
-𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘴 = 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴  
-enjoy!!!

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or you just want to talk, please do message me! I would love to hear feedback, thoughts, and, if at all, ideas from you!!!

*𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚: 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙘 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚 


	2. 1: Parallel

“That’ll be 3400 Eforo.”

 

“What? For this small piece of machinery?”

 

“Look, we even polished it for you, so that cost extra.”

 

“But, I didn’t ask you to polish it!”

 

“Pay up, buddy, or you won’t get this back.” 

 

“Ugh, okay, fine... I’ll pay.”

 

“Thank you for your service, please come again!”

 

______________

 

“We did good today again, kiddos.” Onao, a repair shop owner, said with a content sigh; he placed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. 

“Yeah boss, we sure did! We even got him to pay full price— and extra!” Dekin, an employee, said, his words filled with excitement. 

“Just fixin’ a few lose screws and askin’ for 3400 Eforo? You didn’t even polish it either! Man, boss, you’re cruel to the bone!” Galea, a co-worker, exclaimed with a finger jutted out at Onao. She held her stomach as she laughed; her shrill voice made Dekin’s ears ring. 

“Well, that’s how it’s gotta be if we wanna be at the top, ya know? Being one of two repair branches in Toavia really brings in the money.” Onao remarked, a smug smile forming on his face.

“We’ll be rich in no time!” Galea cheered, throwing her arms up in the air joyfully. “Ya got that right, Galea! We’ll be able to live in luxury, and buy things we don’t even need!” Dekin clasped his hands together, his eyes sparkling with imagination. 

Onao peered out the window, seeing that the sun was beginning to set, he decided to wrap things up. “It’s getting dark out, we’d better get going. Dekin, close up shop for me.” Onao instructed, rising from his seat. Tossing the key to Dekin, he moved towards the exit of the shop. 

“Oh, already? See ya in the morning, boss!” Galea said happily, waving goodbye in his direction. Onao nodded as he pushed the door open and stepped outside into the evening. As he began to walk back to his home, he overheard a small group of people speaking. 

 

“Hey, did ya hear? Apparently, there’s a guy way out somewhere in Goredia desert that can fix just about anything— at a low price.”

 

“Really? Why is he so far out there? How does he make a living?” 

 

“Who knows? I’ve never met the guy, hell, I’ve never even seen him. All I’ve heard were rumors. They may not even be true.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me before? I could’ve gone there and wouldn’t have paid so much for this! Agh... Dammit, do you know his name?”

 

“Nah, I’ve heard people talking about him, but strangely, they never mention it or they don’t even know.”

 

“𝘏𝘦𝘩,” Onao thought. “ 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.” 

 

—————————————————————

 

“That will be 290 Eforo.”

 

“What? That’s it? You’ve handled such a big job and that’s all you’re asking for?”

 

“Yes, that will be all.”

 

“Alright, here you go! I put in an extra 120 for your troubles.”

 

“Oh, I don’t need--“

 

“Just take it man, you were a great help! Way better than the two shops at Toavia, combined! I’ll be sure to recommend you other people. Totally worth comin’ out here! Well then, I’ll see you around!”

 

“...Thank you for your service, please come again.”

~~~~~~~~~

Idrius sat down, wiping the sweat from his forehead before sighing from exhaustion. He looked up and stared at the ceiling fan he’d built due to the hot desert weather. He held the extra money that was given to him up to his face and clenched it in his hand. “𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦.” He thought. 

Turning his head to the side, he examined his small workshop; he had a big crafting table near a window (which was a mess), rows of cabinets and drawers (each filled with different equipment), a counter (where he stands behind to take orders and to store finished products), a small back kitchen, and a separate room (where he sleeps in).

“𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.” Idrius stood up and patted the dust off of himself before turning his shop sign to “closed”. He began rearranging his cluttered table and disposing of the garbage. “𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.” 

~~~~~~~~~

Idrius eyed his room top to bottom, admiring his organization. He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped as he saw what looked like a small chain peeking out from his nightstand drawer.

He walked towards it to take a closer look; he pulled open the drawer revealing the Soarith, a rare and powerful crystal, pendant which hung from a chain. He lifted it up to his eyes and watched as it dangled from his hand. The mineral’s ever-changing colors shone through a semi-transparent outer lining, beautifully reflecting the setting sun in its entirety. Idrius’s eyes overflowed with awe, as this was the only remnant of his faceless parents he could remember. He put the pendant in his pocket and patted it in security. A sigh left him as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.


	3. 2: Routine

Onao whistled as he made his way back to the shop the next morning. With a spring in his step, a smile on his face, and greedy intentions in his mind; he was ready for another day at work. Just thinking about making loads of money was the reason he woke up everyday. 

 

“Hey! It’s the boss!”

 

“Should we try to surprise him?” 

 

“Do you wanna get fired?”

 

“Come on, it’s just a little joke! He won’t get mad!”

 

“No, we’ll definetly get in trouble!”

 

“You’re really no fun, you wuss!”

 

Onao turned around to see his two employees bickering like little kids. He crossed his arms and waited for them to finish while softly tapping his foot.

“Both of you,” He started, giving them a fright; immediately they snapped into place, standing still as if they held their breath. “Stop this foolishness before you ruin my good mood.” 

“Yes, Boss!” the two said in unison. The group continued on their way to work in silence.

 

——————

 

The next few weeks went by the same way: sleep, wake up, deceive, make money. 

 

—————-

 

“Uh, hey Boss? Haven’t ya noticed something different these days?” Dekin piped up out of the blue. Onao, surrounded by stacks of Eforo, was so engrossed in counting his money, that he didn’t even hear a word Dekin said. 

“Huh? What was that? You say somethin’?” Onao asked, not looking up from his counting. 

“I said, haven’t ya noticed anything different lately?” Dekin repeated, his tone just a bit louder. 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Onao snickered. “I’ve noticed that my Eforo stacks keep growin’! Look at all this loot!” The man said heartily, his body shook with laughter. 

The room was quiet for a bit before Galea decided to speak up. “Nah, that’s not what we mean, Boss.” Her voice sounded a bit serious, considering how her usually upbeat personality always made an appearance. 

“Then, what?” Onao questioned, a crooked smile still plastered on his face. 

Dekin’s eyes narrowed as he said, “The customers. There has been less and less of them each week that goes by.” 

“Yeah, I think it’s the way you’re running this place.” Galea chipped in. 

Onao stopped counting his money and his smile quickly disappeared. “You think you know how to run a business? You think the way I’m runnin’ this place is wrong?” Anger began to swell in his voice, his fists were clenched tightly. 

“If it weren’t for me, you two wouldn’t be makin’ any money! I’m showin’ you the right way how to make a living in this reality!” he blared, his hands making contact with the table. The stacks of Eforo jumped in the midst of Onao’s fury. He paused, with fists still on table and his two employees bracing themselves for more of his rage. 

“𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦? 𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦... 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴..” Sweat formed on his forehead, his eyes wide at the thought of it. He looked outside the opened shop door and saw a man carrying a piece of machinery. The guy appeared all happy talking with another individual about it. Onao couldn’t hear what they were speaking about, but from their expressions, he could see it physically. 

“𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮....” he thought. At first, he believed there was no way out of this mess, then an idea just happened to pop into his head, and so did a malicious smile on his face.

He looked at his money, then, walking over and grabbing a medium-sized sack, he went outside of the shop to the man holding the contraption. 

“Hello sir, mind tellin’ me where you got that fixed?” he asked, motioning to the object in his hand. 

“Oh, this? It was from a guy that lives in Goredia desert, he fixes up machines like this— in as little as two days for a low price! He can fix just about anything!” The man says fondly, a smile from ear to ear barely fit onto his face.

“I see, now, I have a piece of machinery I’d like to get fixed as well,” Onao started as he pulled the sack of money into view in front of the man. “Would you mind taking me there?”


	4. 3: Arranged

Onao coughed as sand whipped him in the face; he pulled his cloak closer to his neck, following the man he’d paid to bring him to Goredia. He held a broken piece of equipment with him, which he personally asked Dekin and Galea to mess up as much as possible, so he’d have something for the guy to fix up. 

 

“We’re almost there,” the other man said, the roaring of the desert winds were so loud that Onao almost didn’t hear. He looked up to see the man pointing to a small workshop. 

 

"𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵." Onao cursed mentally.

 

“This is as far as I’ll go, see you back at Toavia!” The man said, retreating with a wave. 

 

“Thank you for your help.” Onao called out, he was actually quite grateful to the man for helping him put an end to this "legend" before it gets too out of hand.

 

——-

 

Onao stood outside the door, staring at the “open” sign that greeted him. “Well, let’s see this punk for myself.” He grumbled aloud as he pushed open the door. With a jingle of the door bell, the shop owner stepped inside, the floor creaking under his feet.

 

“Hello, how may I help you?” A voice said.

 

Onao turned from shutting the door to see a young man standing behind the front counter, ready for whatever task he was to give him.

 

He looked quite serious, with no real form of expression on his face; his green eyes calm and unwavering. The engineer had light, tousled hair that was quite wavy and cut short. He wore a grayish-brown button down shirt, black suspenders, brown pants with multiple pockets, a single-lensed pair of goggles wrapped around his head, a pale olive-colored handkerchief tied around his left arm, and black gloves. Strangely, he seemed to have many bandages wrapped around his limbs, Onto guessed it was from his line of work.

 

He also appeared to be about eighteen, stunning Onao. “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯’ 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?” Thoughts swarmed in the man's head. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦.” 

 

“Uh, I have this.” he said, holding his “broken” equipment out to the worker. The mechanic took it in his hands and examined it carefully. His gloved fingers traced the contour of the piece, his eyes scanning it thoroughly. Onao watched the process, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦...𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦..” he thought. 

 

After a few minutes of examining, the worker spoke up, “The damage isn’t too serious. Will you be able to come back tomorrow afternoon?” He asked. 

 

“𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴?”

 

“Actually... You mind meetin’ up somewhere? I need that in a hurry, and Nyderis Forest isn’t that far where I gotta be. So, just meet me at the border of Goredia and Nyderis.” Onao said, avoiding obvious eye contact.

 

“No, I don’t mind. I know where that is as well, I’ll be sure to get it back to you in no time.” the other said reassuringly. “I’ll also tell you the price after our rendezvous.” He added.

 

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Onao said, turning to make his way towards the door.

 

“You as well.” He heard the mechanic say as he shut the door behind him. 

 

Once outside, he mentally patted himself on the back, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.”


	5. 4: Guilty

***WARNING: HEAVY VIOLENCE

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥... 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦." Idrius thought as he made arrangements to fix the customer's order. He took his trusty giant wrench, and using his magic, changed it into a small, flathead screwdriver. He pulled its pieces into place, restored the broken ends, and tightened loose screws.

~~~~~~~

By the time he was finished, it was already dark out, the sun had completely set, and the room began to grow dim. He turned on some lights as he took the finished, pristine appliance and placed it underneath the counter. He then stretched his arms before calling it a day, strolling into his room to rest up for tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Idrius prepared to set off to Nyderis, taking his wrench, quickly changing it into a small screwdriver and inserting the hilt onto his belt. He also took his keys to lock up the shop while he was gone. He walked behind the counter to retrieve the piece, picking it up with care. He took one last look at the shop, examining it up and down, before stepping outside and locking the door behind him. The mechanic let out a sigh as he made his way towards the forest.

~~~~~~~

The engineer sat in the shade of the trees of Nyderis, admiring the change of scenery from his original location. He could still see the desert sand and the footprints he left when he made his way towards the forest.

Then, in the distance, he could see a man approaching from the direction in which he came from. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺." Idrius thought. He pulled his single-lensed goggles over his right eye, adjusting the view to see not one, but three figures. "Are they accompanying him on his journey?" He questioned.

He looked down at the equipment he restored and began thinking hard. "𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥... 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.." Idrius decided that he would ask about it when they got there.

~~~~~~~

Idrius stood up as the group got closer, taking the piece in his hands, he walked to meet them halfway.

"Ah, ya made it." the man greeted him with open arms, a smile sat on his face.

"I fixed it for you. You didn't ask for any other additional features to be added or done, so I just welded the broken parts together." He said holding it out to the customer. The other man took it from his hands, smiling as he saw the equipment looking good as new. Idrius peeked up at the two other people with him, a young man and woman, strangely, their faces looked dark with cruel intentions.

"Wow, I gotta say, I'm impressed with your skills. Ya done well, kid." He said, eyeing the fixed contraption.

Sand blew around Idrius's legs, almost as if to warn him of something.

"But..." The customer started. "Sorry to say, I ain't gonna pay for this." He said, tossing the piece to the side. The desert sands caught the machinery, holding it for safekeeping.

The atmosphere around became dense, it felt like an ominous aura surrounded the group of three.

Puzzled at his statement, Idrius was about to ask, but the other young man with the customer suddenly lunged forward— a glint of annoyance in his eyes.

Idrius didn't react fast enough; his body was frozen. He then looked down to see that his attacker had stabbed him with a dagger in his lower torso. Blood began to stain his shirt, pain and panic set in. The armed individual gripped Idrius's shoulder tightly, preventing his escape.

"You shouldn't have gotten in our way." Idrius heard the other say.

As he said this, his pursuer forced the blade deeper and twisted the knife harshly, inflicting more agony; the pain becoming unbearable.

Idrius tried to shove him off, but before he could bring up his arm, his breath was immediately knocked out. A knee to the chest had caught him, causing him to fall to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. He felt as if his lungs had disappeared and the wound in his side, burning like fire. He clenched his injury, blood trickling onto his hand as he gritted his teeth. Once his breath had returned, his breathing became heavy as fear of dying had set in. Thoughts were the only thing he could hear.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘦?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰?

𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥?

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨?

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?

\--- 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?

Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall as he lay curled up on his side painfully. Another shadow loomed over him; Idrius opened one of his his tightly shut eyes to see the young woman that had also accompanied his client. The look on her face was the same as the young man's. Idrius didn't know what to expect from her, as it already seemed that he would just bleed out.

Then, without warning, he felt something slam into his stomach repeatedly over and over again. He couldn't really see what was happening; his eyes were squeezed shut once again, but from feeling alone, he knew she was kicking and stomping on him relentlessly.

"How does that feel?! That's right, we won't be beaten to the bottom again!! Never!!!" The woman bellowed, her voice piercing Idrius's ears.

By then, Idrius had lost a significant amount of blood, and these convicts had no intention of stopping. He didn't know how long she'd been kicking him, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

"Galea, that's enough. He'll die on his own anyway." The recognizable voice of the original customer came through. The kicking stopped almost immediately and Idrius was able to breathe again.

Footsteps across the sand coming towards him caused him to hold his breath once more. The head of the group grabbed him by the collar, lifting his upper body off the ground. His arms felt as if they weighed a ton each, but Idrius just wanted to reach up and strangle him.

"We'll clear up your place for ya, don't worry."

And with that, the man dropped him back onto the ground. He heard the group beginning their withdrawal, their footsteps and cheers growing distant with each second.

Idrius couldn't move, it was almost as though a heavy weight was blanketed over his whole body. This quiet, serene feeling was almost... Comforting. The pain had nearly subsided, and he could finally breathe easy. He felt extremely fatigued as his eyes began to close. He chose not to fight it, but rather let it happen.

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵...?"


	6. 5: Found

“Ah, it’s good to see you again, Moreaux! What brings you here to Toavia at this time?”

 

The mage leaned over the counter, resting his chin on his hands. “I hear you have the crystal?” he asked with a sly smile. The merchant laughed and said, “Heh, nothing ever escapes you, Moreaux. You’re talking about the Vaevil, correct?”  

 

Moreaux nodded complacently. “That’s right. How much is it?” He questioned, moving his arms down so his forearms sat on the ledge of the table.

 

“It’s worth 35,000 Eforo. Will you be able to pay for it?” The merchant asked, his fingertips tapping on the wooden surface.

 

Moreaux chuckled, turning around so his back was against the stand. “I will take offense to that.” He said, his voice laced with raillery. Without turning to face the merchant, he tossed a heavy, medium-sized sac over the counter into the vendor’s hands. The sound of the coins chinkling filled the air as the man struggled to catch it.

 

 “You...” The salesman became speechless. 

 

“It’s 35,000. Take my word for it.” Moreaux smiled, turning his head in the direction of the other. He watched in mirth as the merchant opened the pouch and began counting the money, coin by coin. 

 

He wasn’t even finished counting when he realized he’d been defeated. “Alright...” the vendor sighed and mumbled flatly. 

 

He turned and reached into another bag that contained a box. The man then pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. The lid popped open, revealing a bluish-orange tinted crystal, its luster reflected in Moreaux’s eyes. The merchant closed the box and locked it, handing it and the key to Moreaux. 

 

“Pleasure doing business with you.” He said with a smile. “You as well.” Moreaux responded, taking the items from him. He placed the key in his pocket as he began to make his way back to his dwelling. 

 

••••••••••••

 

As he was exiting the city gates, a group of three people walked past him. It looked like they were carrying quite a few things with them, but he couldn’t tell what they were. They whispered in hushed tones, snickering and jeering. Moreaux could only make out a couple of phrases. 

 

“We got’em good Boss!”

 

“Sure did! Now our profits are saved!”

 

“Let’s celebrate to this victory.”

 

“𝘈𝘩, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.” Moreaux thought, his eyes following them as they passed. 

 

••••••••••••

 

As he continued on his journey back to his home, he noticed that three sets of footprints went all the way out of the city completely and back. “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦?” He pondered. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t actually get a good look at their faces. 

 

Traveling closer to his residence, he saw a fourth pair of footprints in the sand; all four apparently made their way close to Nyderis. “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳?”The wizard thought hard at the current mystery, deciding to follow the “ghost prints” to where they end. “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦?” He asked himself, his walking speed unconsciously getting quicker. He looked around for more pieces to the puzzle. As he paused to check his surroundings, he saw it. 

 

A body curled up into a ball, seemingly injured and most likely attacked by those suspicious three. He jogged up closer to it, kneeling by its side. He turned the body so it rolled onto its back, revealing a serious stab wound on the lower torso. Moreaux’s eyes widened with horror; he pressed two fingers onto the victim’s neck, waiting for a sign of life. A pool of fresh blood was underneath the body, seeping into the sands. “𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴.” He hypothesized. Then after a few seconds, he felt a pulse.

 

 Acting quickly, he pulled off his cloak, wrapping it around the other’s waist and tying it tightly to stop any more blood flow in the wound area. He then hoisted the body up and over his shoulder, hurrying back to his home. 

 

••••••••••••

 

Moreaux plopped down on his desk chair, exhausted. He’d addressed the wounds on the young man, who, appearance-wise looked about the same age as himself. The wizard casted his healing spells, all which stopped the bleeding and closed up the injuries, depleting his energy. He looked down and held the Soarith in his hand.

 

“𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘕𝘺𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩?” He thought in silence for a few seconds before rising from his seat and walking over to his bookshelf. 

 

Once there, he opened a small box that contained a dozen or more replicas of the Soarith crystal. Taking one of them, he placed the replica into one of the pockets in the stranger’s pants. He put the real gem in his own pocket, smiling to himself as he patted it in security. 

 

He went back to his chair and sat down again.

 

“𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦...” He thought, referring back to the group he saw at the city gates. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩... 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮?” He wondered, looking over at the visitor resting in his bed.

 

“𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” The stranger’s eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. Moreaux determined that he would take a while to gain consciousness, so he decided he would ask him about everything later on.


	7. 6: Objective

𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. "𝙄𝙨... 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢?" 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 

 

𝘈 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩? 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸. "𝘼𝙢 𝙄 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙..?" 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥. 

 

"𝙉𝙤."

 

𝘈 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱.

 

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

 

𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺.

 

"𝙄 ______ 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ______ ."

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 

"𝘼𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙄... 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙.."

 

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 

"𝙄𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨, 𝙄 _____ 𝙮𝙤𝙪." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 

 

𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

Idrius’s eyes snapped open. He sat up swiftly, gripping his head. “𝘈𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”He wiped the sweat from his neck before realizing that he was in an entirely different setting. 

 

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮 𝘐? 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” He looked around in confusion, the small place of residence had cabinets full of bottles in different shapes and sizes, a large bookshelf  with each shelf overflowing with novels, a small kitchen that looked hardly used, and a desk cluttered with papers and small books, along with samples of various plants and crystals encased in glass. 

 

Sitting on the desk’s chair was a young man, so absorbed in his writing that he didn’t notice Idrius had woken up. He had a strange, golden-colored contraption over his right eye; as he picked up a small plant sample, the instrument elongated like a scope. He rotated the sample this way and that before scribbling down his findings. Then, he unconsciously turned and looked the wide-awake Idrius square in the face, jumping in his seat, startled.

 

“Agh, you scared my heart right out of my chest!” He exclaimed, his hand over his heart as if it had really fallen out. He laughed lightheartedly before composing himself, clearing his throat. He walked over to where Idrius rested and pulled up a chair next to the bed. He then sat down with one leg crossed over the other.

 

The other had short, light blonde hair and soft blue eyes. The stranger wore a teal-colored short cloak with a golden outline and a white button down shirt which had loose, puffy sleeves and a ribbon at the neck. His top was accompanied by black pants, black, heeled, thigh-high boots, and steel, armor-like knee pads. He also wore very long, chain triangle earrings reaching down to his collar and multiple rings affixed with different gems. 

 

“My name is Moreaux. Glad to make your acquaintance.” He said with an outstretched hand. 

 

“Idrius. And you as well..” He responded, shaking hands with him.

 

“You know... You’ve been out for nearly four days.” Moreaux mentioned, his hand on his chin.

 

“What? Really?” He said, astonished. He began looking around at himself, pulling up the blankets from his body. He then lifted his shirt to find that his wound was no longer there. It also seemed he was in a different change of clothes, making him assume they were from his rescuer.

 

Moreaux nodded and smiled with amusement as he observed Idrius’s small moment of panic. “No need to worry, I’ve just healed you, and mended your clothes as well.” he said, looking in the direction of where he placed the other's garments. Idrius turned his head in the same direction and his original clothes sat in a chair— they appeared to be folded and washed.

 

The mechanic wasted no time to question him. “Why are you doing this?” Idrius asked in suspicion, folding his arms over his chest.

 

“A “thank you” would be greatly appreciated.” Moreaux grinned with his eyes closed, his tone of voice then turning somewhat devious. “You seem to be of use. I need you to help me with something, and I just wanted to be sure you couldn’t possibly refuse.” 

 

“You rescued me just for your own benefits?” Idrius became quite offended.

 

“Oh?” The mage opened his eyes in surprise and turning his gaze to Idrius, he leaned forward to make his statement clear. “Did you want me to say, “I rescued you out of the goodness of my own heart!”? I apologize, but no one has that mindset anymore. Anyone will do something if they can get something out of it.” Moreaux answered, his words soaked in brutal honesty. 

 

Idrius couldn’t argue with that remark, as he knew it well. “You have a point.” He said in defeat. “That aside, what do you need my help for?” He raised an eyebrow.

 

Moreaux pondered for a moment. “Do you know of a man named Olias?” He called into question. 

 

The boy shook his head in response, earning a puzzled look from the wizard. 

 

“My, I’m quite shocked. Considering that you are the holder of the Soarith, I believed you knew who he was.” The other commented impassively, checking his nails.

 

Idrius suddenly became defensive and gripped the bed sheets underneath him. “How did you know about that?” He inquired, his voice grew stern.

 

“You put it in your pocket, is that right? The left one, to be exact.” Moreaux rolled his eyes up as he recalled. “Don’t worry, it’s still in there. I didn’t do anything with it.” He lifted his hands in the air, an innocent smile formed on his face.

 

Idrius relaxed his shoulders with a sigh. Moreaux lowered his arms, seeing his surrender. “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘩𝘮?"

 

“As I was saying, Olias is a dangerous man. He’s been pillaging nearby villages in Kraemos for years now. Many people have died by his hands, and many more are afraid to leave their homes because of him. Recently though, he’s been quiet. Who knows what he could be planning.” Moreaux explained, appearing to be in deep thought.

 

“So you’re saying, you want to take him down?” Idrius titled his head.

 

“I’m saying that we need to take him down.” The mage answered in all seriousness. “I fear he will attack bigger cities or even the capital in the near future.” Moreaux paused. “You must be on guard. I feel the reason why he’s been attacking these small villages is because he is in search of the Soarith.” 

 

“What does he want with it?” The mechanic asked.

 

“It amazes me on how you’ve held onto this crystal, I’m assuming your whole life, and yet you know nothing about it. Ah well, I suppose it’s better to know now, than to know nothing at all.” Moreaux sighed with a shake of his head, standing up from his seat and crossing over to his bookshelf.

 

 He examined a few of the shelves before pulling out a small blue book. As he returned to his chair, he flipped to a page with a sketch of the Soarith, showing it to Idrius. Although uncolored, the other could tell from the unique shape that it was indeed a Soarith crystal. 

 

“I’m aware you know what it looks like, but it is important you know of the powers it possesses.” Moreaux then flipped to the next page which was full of information about the gem. He handed the book to Idrius, allowing him to read the information printed. 

 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 

 

𝘛𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥. 

 

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴.

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦.”


	8. 7: Start

“I believe you’ve sent for me?”

 

“That is correct. Do you have anything to report?”

 

“Yes, I do indeed, Master. Apparently, it seems our target has disappeared.”

 

“Oh, is that so? How interesting. No matter, our plans are complete anyhow. All we must do now is wait. There are no signs of failure.” 

 

“That’s reassuring. Shall I let him know?”

 

“Yes, thank you. You may return to your duties after you’ve passed on the message.”

 

“Of course, Master. I shall take my leave, then?”

 

“Yes, you may carry on.”

 

“A pleasure to be in your presence, Master.” 

 

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

 

“It’s really been bothering me, I must ask you...” Moreaux started, glancing down at the floor from his seat. Idrius looked up, upon hearing the other's voice. 

 

“What is it?” He asked in curiosity.

 

“Where did you get the Soarith?” The mage questioned, his tone sounding a bit intrusive. He  heavily took in the fact that some stranger would have the crystal that could potentially destroy the entire country, or maybe the world. 

 

“I can’t really remember...” Idrius began, staring at his hands trying to dig through his memories. “I just remember my parents had left it with me, I believe? I was very young at the time, so everything is a little jumbled up.” 

 

“They had just given it to you? That is quite peculiar.” Moreaux replied, raising an eyebrow and placing a hand on his chin. 

 

Idrius narrowed his eyes while trying to recall the last memory his guardians had left him. He then saw a faint recollection of his faceless parents, a large bag, the Soarith, and a dark hole in the ground. 

 

“I...” He hesitated, slightly turning his head to the side. 

 

Moreaux raised his hand to stop him, seeing his struggle. “I shouldn’t force you to remember if it troubles you, I apologize.” he was also mindful of Idrius’s situation. 

 

Idrius nodded after he heard the other's regards. 

 

“We can put that into consideration some other time. There are other matters I would like to discuss.” The wizard switched topics, rising from his seat and moving towards his desk. He shifted over some papers, along with some books and pulled up a large, folded piece of paper. Walking back, he spread out the sheet, unveiling a blueprint of Kraemos. 

 

The map was complete with markings of major cities to small remote villages, as well as labelings of mountains, plains, deserts, and other landmarks. Some places had been circled; Idrius assumed those were places Moreaux had been to before. 

 

“I believe we must go here.” he directed, pointing to an un-circled, small village named “Saredus” on the paper. “Someone told me there was a man there that knows about Olias’s whereabouts. We must find and speak with him.”  

 

“How do you know it’s true? It could be just a rumor.” Idrius tilted his head, the action was accompanied with a slight hand gesture.

 

“Precisely. I don’t know if it’s true, so that’s why we’ll be going there the day after tomorrow to see it for ourselves.” 

 

&&&&&&

 

Idrius waited outside as Moreaux was locking the door to his house. He was dressed in his original clothes; he slipped his hand into his pocket, checking if the Soarith was still there. He also pulled his screwdriver from his other pocket, again placing the hilt on his belt. Moreaux’s keys jingled as he tried to find the right one, finally inserting the correct key into the lock. He twisted the handle to make sure the door was sealed before walking over to Idrius’s side. 

 

“Let us be on our way.” Moreaux turned to him, a slight smile on his face. 

 

&&&&&&

 

The two started on their journey to Saredus, passing through the whole of Nyderis, as the city was on the other side of the forest.

 

It was quiet for a while between the two, so Moreaux decided to break the silence. 

 

“I meant to ask you earlier,” he initiated, turning his head to look back at the other. “Do you use magic?”

 

Idrius followed closely behind, answering without looking up. “Yes, I do. It’s not to an extent like your power, but I still use it.” He took out his screwdriver from his belt, showing it to Moreaux.

 

The wizard raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips in confusion. “A... Screwdriver?” 

 

Using his conjuring spell; a magic circle had appeared around the tool, allowing Idrius to immediately change it into its default: a giant wrench.

 

He began transforming it into many other tools all at once. From wrench to hammer, hammer to axe, axe to crowbar, and to other repair utensils.

 

“I see... You work in restoration or construction?” Moreaux asked, quite intrigued of Idrius’s potential.

 

The mechanic nodded in response, tossing his wrench up into the air, and catching it as a screwdriver.  “I’ve learned how to fix and make all kinds of contraptions when I was a kid. That’s all I was good at, actually.” 

 

“That is interesting.. Awakening your magic to your hobby; it must be awfully useful.” Moreaux commented, genuinely captivated.

 

“I guess so.” Idrius shrugged, putting his screwdriver away back onto his belt. “What is your occupation?” 

 

“Well, I am a mage. I create spells or improve on ones that already exist. I write my own spell books, and I sell them in various towns and cities to other magic users.” Moreaux replied, looking around at the brush that surrounded them.

 

“Then why are you secluded in Nyderis?” Idrius called into question. 

 

“Nyderis is full of various types of greenery and  stonework, like flowers and gems. I study them and see if they have any magical properties. I write and sell those books, as well.” The other responded with a smile. 

 

“Did you always live in Kraemos?” Idrius asked, swatting away at insects near his legs.

 

“No, actually. I was born in Verdine, but a few years after my mother passed, I moved here to continue my studies.” Moreaux glanced at the ground. 

 

Idrius didn’t mean to bring up a painful memory and was quickly set to apologize. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t—“ He started. 

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It was a while ago anyway.”  Moreaux cut in, seemingly unbothered.

 

Silence fell between them once again. Then, they came upon a clearing in the forest, a large, wide open area with an ocean of tall grass surrounded them. The mage stopped in his tracks, extending his arm to halt Idrius. 

 

“Do you hear something?” Moreaux asked in a hushed tone. Hearing the other's statement, Idrius paused to listen to the forest’s ambience.

 

“Someone...Help me..”


	9. 8: Clue

“Should we help them?” Idrius asked, his stance indicated immediate action at the moment of Moreaux’s response.

 

The other didn’t answer, his eyes were fixated onto the ground. The cry for help grew more and more desperate, they sounded like they could die any second.

 

“Moreaux?” Idrius called out to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

 

The mage said something under his breath, his eyes narrowing slightly.

 

Closing his eyes, he turned abruptly. “We must leave, immediately. We have to get out of here. Follow close behind me, or you’ll never escape.” He urged the mechanic to get a move on. 

 

“What—“ Idrius was about to ask, but Moreaux cut him off again. The two of them broke out into a sprint to the end of the forest.

 

“Fruviels.” The wizard answered him without letting him finish his question. “They inhabit this forest. They set traps for humans, so they can catch them easily. Though strangely, they are quite rare, and they never really come out to hunt humans in daylight.” 

 

Idrius looked at the dense brush around them as he ran, squinting to get a better view. Through the trees, he could make out distinct figures of black masses; they looked like silhouettes or shadows of people running.

 

“They’re closing in!” Moreaux shouted, looking back to see a black tide heading towards them at full speed. They shifted easily through the trees, some even ran on top of them or leaped between their branches.

 

Moreaux, realizing the creatures wouldn’t give up, made a hard stop, spinning around swiftly and pulling out his spell book. “Idrius! Guard me from behind, don’t let them come close to me!” He ordered hastily. “Those things may look permeable, but I can assure you they are solid!”

 

“Understood!” The other answered, raising his wrench in defense and bashing at the ones closest to him.

 

Moreaux flipped his spell book to a specific page; in seconds, multiple magic circles appeared around him. As his eyes fell shut, his book began to glow, levitating above his hands. 

 

Idrius swung at the ravenous creatures, knocking them to the ground with his heavy blows. He rotated between his weapons before choosing his double-sided axe, striking and dismembering their bodies; each disintegrating into dust with every hit. 

 

As Moreaux began his incantation, glowing waves of energy were set in motion, each one stronger than the last. A large barrier surrounded the two of them, its radius enlarging by the second. The force field became increasingly dense, stopping the stream of Fruviels from entering inside the enclosed space. Eventually, all the creatures were outside the barrier; Idrius eliminated the last few that were within.  

 

The shadow-like monstrosities began clawing and swiping at the barrier from all sides, but their attacks proved to be no avail. 

 

The mage, slowly lifting two fingers up to his forehead, opened his eyes. With a deathly glare, he extended his arm, forcing out an immense ripple of energy into the barrier. The force field sparked and became transparent, now invisible to the human eye. 

 

At this time, any being that touched the barrier would deliquesce in a matter of seconds. 

 

Moreaux shifted into a normal standing position, his magic circles disappearing as he put his book away. He breathed out, observing the puddles of Fruviels forming around the radius of the barrier. 

 

“My..” he started. “We merely just started our journey, and we’re already running into trouble?” He shook his head, crossing his arms and turning towards Idrius. “Is it possible..?” He pondered.

 

The other turned in his direction. “What’s wrong?” He asked, seeing the strange expression on Moreaux’s face.

 

“Hm... I believe the Fruviels attacked because they had some sort of reaction to the Soarith.” The wizard answered. “It’s as almost if they were drawn to it..” He looked back at the Fruviels still attempting to tear through the barrier. He then walked closer to it, unflinchingly observing the behavior of these creatures. 

 

Idrius approached Moreaux’s side, looking into the dark maroon eyes of the Fruviels. Upon closer inspection, there was what looked like a magic circle insignia in their pupils. Both Idrius and Moreaux did not recognize the emblems shown on the magic circle.

 

“They were either sent here to kill us, or to go after the Soarith.” The boy said, turning to face Moreaux. “I’ve seen this type of magic in the past. I believe it’s called “puppet magic”. The user casts a spell on single being, but it could spread like a disease, infecting the rest of the population.” 

 

“You said you’ve seen this before? Where?” Moreaux asked, quite surprised. 

 

“On a human. A man had the same insignia in his eyes back in Toavia. He was behaving almost like an angry drunkard, swinging his arms like a madman. He chased after me, but stopped immediately after I went past the city gates.” Idrius explained, furrowing his eyebrows and placing a hand on his chin.

 

“If the spell was cast on a human, why didn’t it spread to everyone?” The other remained curious.

 

“The amount of time to spread depends on the population and stamina of the user. The more the beings, the longer it takes to spread. Less stamina or energy capacity has the same effect. I’ve read about it in a few magic studies books before, but I’ve never seen it to an extent like this..” Idrius answered, his eyes enunciating bewilderment. 

 

“I see.. We must find out who’s the culprit behind this.” The mage stated. He looked around once more at the situation, and seeing that the surroundings were now calm, he motioned Idrius to follow him.

 

“Come, we still have other matters to attend to first.” He said, turning and continuing their journey to Saredus.

 

&&&&&&

 

Along the way, the two engaged in comfortable chatter. Infinite questions and answers cascaded from their mouths back and forth. 

 

“By the way..” Moreaux began. “The people that attacked you.. For what reason did they have to do that?” He asked, still trying to understand the reason behind their ambush.

 

Idrius shook his head, telling him all that he knew. In truth, he himself didn’t even know much about them or why they had hurt him.

 

Just hearing Idrius’s side of the story made Moreaux scowl in revulsion. “It was most likely due to competition. They were envious of your success. You didn’t do anything directly to them, but they took it as a threat to their business, so they decided to get rid of you.” 

 

Idrius didn’t say anything after hearing Moreaux’s statement. His logic was plausible, and his words sounded harshly truthful. Idrius assumed it’s just the way people are these days.

 

“Will you get back at them?” The mage asked suddenly, turning to Idrius.

 

“What?” The other responded, looking up with a surprised expression.

 

“You have seen their faces and you know they’re in Toavia, correct? I’m asking, will you take revenge?” Moreaux pressed, crossing his arms and turning around to walk backwards.

 

“Why would I do that?” The mechanic asked in a perplexed tone.

 

Moreaux gave Idrius the most “are you kidding me” look, sighing and shaking his head. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵??” He thought furiously.

 

“I’ll take that as a no, then.” The wizard clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, since you’re not going to take action, I’ll do it for you. My sense of lawfulness will not cease until they’re done for.” He said, a smile creeping up onto his face.

 

“Wait, you don’t have to—“ Idrius retorted, but was cut off by the other once again.

 

“I wasn’t asking for your approval.” The other butted in, a devious look made its appearance. 

 

“Just... Don’t kill them.” Idrius sighed, seeing that the mage was completely determined to have his way, he reluctantly gave in.

 

“I wasn’t planning on doing that anyway. Just take this as a “thank you” for your help when this is all over.” Moreaux replied with a big grin, turning to face forward. “Besides, death is not the only punishment.”


	10. 9: Delve

The pair had finally arrived to Saredus, a small, but busy town. They were the main supply for wood, being so close to Nyderis, this city was bustling with timber men. 

 

“So, where shall we start?” Idrius asked Moreaux, his eyes wandering in awe around the new backdrop. 

 

“I believe the man was called “Erolath”. Maybe we should ask around the town to find information about him.” The other answered.

 

“Let’s split up, so we can cover more ground. Meet me back at the gates if you find a lead.” He said as he turned and walked in the opposite direction. 

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

Idrius went about, walking around the town in search of who to ask first. He then spotted a woman, seemingly idle, standing outside near a small dwelling. He decided to question her, reaching out, and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

 

“Excuse me, miss, do you have a m—“ he started; she turned around suddenly with a bright smile on her face.

 

“Oh! You’re right on time! You must be the person my husband called to watch my kids!” she exclaimed, taking him by the wrist and leading him into her home.

 

“Wait, I’m not—“ he tried once more, but was again blurred out.

 

“You’re not that experienced with children? It’s alright, there isn’t much you have to do, they’re just little babies!” The woman said as she nodded her head happily, dragging him over to where her kids were playing.

 

“Miss, please, you’ve got the wrong idea—“ he attempted to reason, trying to get her to release him from her grasp. 

 

She then turned to him, a tender smile formed on her face. She held his hand between hers and said almost emotionally, “You know, I’m so glad you’re here... I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up. My mother fell ill, and she lives in a different town, I must see her; but I had no one to watch my kids and I thought I was going to go crazy— I’m just soooo thankful you’re here..” she rambled.

 

Idrius’s mind went completely blank, as he didn’t know what to say at this point. 

 

“Hello? Anyone? Mrs. Siemas, are you here?” another voice was heard from the entrance of the house.

 

Both the woman and Idrius froze in place, the two thought exactly the same thing.

 

“Hello? I was called to babysit your kids—“ The guest walked into the hallway in which they were, pausing upon seeing the situation. The young woman froze too; all three of them have turned to stone.

 

“I.. Deeply apologize, young man. Please be careful on your way out.” The lady, or known as Mrs. Siemas, said as she turned to Idrius stiffly. 

 

It’s alright, thank you for your regards, miss..” He said, shuffling out of the house. On his way out, he could hear the two ladies from within the house.

 

“Mrs. Siemas, I didn’t know you were like this!! Are you cheating???”

 

“Of course not! Hanwa, you’ve got it all wrong!!!”

 

Idrius left the house, closing the door behind him. He shuddered in embarrassment, hoping that another scenario like that will never show again.

 

He decided it would be best to forget it happened, and carried on with his current task.

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

“Oh my gosh, do you see that guy over there??”

 

“Which one? The one with the glasses?”

 

“No, you, dunce! The one he’s talking to!”

 

“I think she means the one with the fluffy hair in the suspenders.”

 

“Oh, him! What about him?”

 

“Don’t be so obvious!”

 

“Ow! Why’d you do that?”

 

“Shut up! He’s looking over here!”

 

“You think he saw us?”

 

No, I don’t think so.”

 

“Phew! Let's move!”

 

The three girls scurried into a nearby alleyway, chitchatting away like mice.

 

“You guys saw him right?! Isn’t he so handsome? I’ve never seen anyone like him!” Edia, the middle child, squealed excitedly, her hands clasped together and her lashes fluttering in a dreamy state.

 

“Maybe he’s not from here.” Falvi, the eldest, said, her bored expression seemed rigid. 

 

“It’s like love at first sight!” Chonon, the youngest, exclaimed with a finger raised in the air.

 

“If he’s not from here, this may be our only chance to get him!!” Edia cried. All three girls gasped in unison.

 

“Come on, girls! We won’t let this one get away this time!” Edia said with a fist in the air, beginning an onward march.

 

The other two girls saluted and followed Edia in suit. 

 

“Wait, Edia, do you even have a plan?” Falvi asked, peering around Chonon to look at the girl in front. 

 

“Well...” Edia said as she tapped her chin. “I think we should try something a little bit different this time.” Edia said, rubbing her hands together guilefully.

 

*************************************************

 

Moreaux sighed as he walked through the city roads. He must’ve asked dozens about the mysterious Erolath, but the people either had unclear leads or they didn’t know he existed at all. 

 

He then saw a bar, ostensibly brimming with people.

 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺.” He thought as he made his way inside the building. 

 

Once he entered, he was greeted by a sight of people chatting away, brawny men arm wrestling, ladies flaunting their assets, ceaseless laughter, and the majority of the population was drinking. Loud music radiated all through the building; a group of musicians had seemingly made this place their home. The bar had a miasma of alcohol and sweat throughout, causing Moreaux to question his decision.

 

He then decided it would be best to seize the opportunity, and went around asking the few sober-looking individuals. 

 

•••••••••

 

Remaining fruitless, Moreaux headed to the front counter and sat down. With his elbow propped up, he rested his cheek on his knuckle, letting out a deep sigh. 

 

“What’s wrong, young man? Havin’ trouble with the ladies?” The bartender joked, noticing the mage’s gloom. He walked around towards him as he wiped a glass clean with a piece of cloth. 

 

“It’s nothing like that.” He chuckled, his voice in a lightsome tone. 

 

“Well, whatever it is, sounds like you could use a drink, whaddya say?” The bartender responded with a point of his finger and a wink in Moreaux’s direction.

 

“Ah, I prefer not to drink, actually. But, thank you for the offer.” Moreaux politely declined with a wave of his hand. 

 

“Not a drinker, eh? That’s quite rare if you're comin' into a bar..” The tavern man replied, resting one of his elbows on the counter as he pulled out a cigar and a lighter. 

 

Since this man was the owner, the wizard assumed he knew all kinds of people that had passed through here at least once. “By the way, do you know of someone known as Erolath? I was told he is in this town.” He asked, watching as the man bit off the sealed end and struck a match; he held it against his cigar, and ignited the foot. 

 

The barkeeper took a deep puff as he evaluated the name. He turned to Moreaux and tapped the end of his cigar on a nearby ashtray. 

 

“The name does sound familiar alright, I’ve heard it before. But, I don’t know his whereabouts as of now. It was quite a while ago when that name was mentioned here in this bar.” He answered with a shake of his head.

 

“I see..” Moreaux said in a tone of disappointment with a hint of annoyance. 

 

“𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥?” Moreaux thought to himself. 

 

“Thank you for your courtesy, it is much appreciated.” He stood up from his seat, turning for the door.

 

Suddenly, as he made his way towards the exit, a tall, brawny man sitting at the end of the front counter rose from his seat and blocked his way intentionally. 

 

Moreaux, already slightly annoyed from leaving empty-handed, looked up at the man in front of him. He really did not want to use force to move him in such a crowded area.

 

“I heard you were looking for Erolath.” The burly man said, his voice deep and rugged. 

 

“Yes, I am. And? Do you have information on him?” The mage asked impatiently, folding his arms over his chest. 

 

“Who wants to know?” The other man said, unmoving from his position.

 

“What? You’ve heard my conversation, so it’s  obvious I want to know.” Moreaux retorted with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Are you mockin’ me?” The buff stranger questioned, physically growing angry, his fists were clenched and his head was lowered. 

 

“I think he was!” Some other bar-dweller called out from nearby. “Better show him who’s the boss around here!” He said taking a gulp from his large mug. 

 

“This is exciting! Is this a bar fight? Haven’t seen one in a loooong time!” Another voice rang out. 

 

By this time, a good majority of the people had heard what was going on, and began cheering in amusement. 

 

Moreaux became even more irritated, both him and the heavyset glared daggers at each other. 

 

“Hey! If you’re going to fight, take it outside! Don’t fight in my bar!” The bartender warned with a shaking fist.

 

The big man gave a smug smile and turned to head to the door. The crowd clapped and cheered as they prepared to follow the entertainment outside to see the brawl. 

 

But before the hulk could take a single step, Moreaux reached up with one hand and grabbed him by the back of the neck, picking him up with ease, and hurled him as hard as he could outside through the doorway. The doors and part of the front walls were smashed as pieces were sent flying through the air. A loud crash and a few screams were heard from outside the building. Dust arose from the ground, obscuring the view of the man outside.

 

The bar grew deathly silent, all the people stared with wide eyes as the wizard stood still in front of them. He turned to the bartender, who had his jaw dropped to the floor, and walked towards him. 

 

The bartender raised his arms up in surrender, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. “Please! Take anything you want, just don’t hurt me!!” He cried pleadingly.

 

Moreaux didn’t say a word as he placed a large bag of Eforo on the counter, presumably for the expenses of fixing the doors and walls. He bowed his head in apology as he exited the bar, stepping over the fresh rubble and making his way over to the man he’d thrown out of the bar. 

 

The man shifted and groaned underneath a collapsed empty vendor’s stand, half his body covered in broken pieces of wood. Moreaux took the man’s forearm and dragged him out of the debris, pulling him to his feet. 

 

Without wasting anymore time, he asked him directly, “Where is Erolath?”

 

The man shook his head. “I know as much as that bartender does. All I can say is that he is in this town. I haven’t heard much about him lately, so somethin’ coulda happened to him.” He replied.

 

“This still gets me nowhere.” Moreaux placed his head in his hands. "You just wanted to pick a fight because you dared to underestimate. You are a fool for making that mistake." He looked at the sky, the sun was at its highest which meant that it was about late afternoon. He decided it was best to reconvene with Idrius in hopes of him finding something. 

 

He sighed and apologized to the man for throwing him out of the bar so brutally before turning to walk in the other direction.

 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 

By this time, Idrius had asked a significant amount of people about Erolath, but it proved to be futile. He sighed as he made his way to to city gates to meet up with Moreaux.

 

As he was walking, he had a strange feeling that eyes were on him at all times, he would turn his head ever so often to look around and behind to see if anyone was following him.

 

Coincidentally, he saw Moreaux heading his direction from afar, and the two met each other’s gaze. 

 

Directly after Idrius saw the mage, he felt a hard yank on his arm, pulling him fiercely into the alleyway next to him. He landed on his side, and his attacker twisted his arm behind his back painfully. He tried to move against their restraints, but it resulted in a knee on his back and on his legs. He could hear soft whispers above him, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. His mouth was covered by a cloth, causing him to be unable to call for help. 

 

“Ahem.. Sorry to interrupt, but... What are you doing to my partner?” The familiar voice of Moreaux reached Idrius’s ears.

 

“𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘴!!” The wizard thought to himself in worry. 

 

The three girls paused and stared at the mage, each thinking the same thing.

 

“𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰!!!”

 

Using this chance, Idrius was able to shake off the girls, and sent all of them tumbling away. He untied the wrap around his mouth before standing up and dusting himself off; he retreated to Moreaux’s side. 

 

“Why were you three following me?” Idrius questioned as he massaged his reddening wrist. 

 

“Leave them be, we must not waste anymore time. We still have to look for Erolath—“ Moreaux said, but was cut off by one of the girls piping up.

 

“Erolath?? He’s our father! What could you want with him?” One of them said. 

 

“Maybe he wants his blessing—“ Another girl said, leaning into Moreaux and puckering her lips with her eyes closed.

 

“Be quiet, Edia.” The last girl said, standing up and hitting her on the back of the head.

 

“Well... Actually, we need to discuss some matters with him. It is very important. Do you know where he might be?” Idrius asked.

 

All three of their faces then expressed sadness. The serious-looking one stepped up to Idrius and Moreaux, her hands clasped behind her back and her head low.

 

“We would take you to our father, but recently in Saredus, our water supply has been running low, and there is an oasis not too far from here. Our father volunteered to go and check it out, but he hasn’t returned since. We fear that something bad has happened to him.” She said.

 

Moreaux investigated further, placing a hand on his chin. “I see.. Has anyone gone in search of him?” 

 

“Yes, about three or four people, I believe. They haven’t returned either.” She said, shaking her head.

 

“How long has it been since then?” Idrius inquired, placing a hand on his hip.

 

“Around a week or so.” She replied.

 

“Will you please help us?” Another girl pleaded, her big eyes, almost swelled with tears threatening to fall. 

 

Idrius and Moreaux turned to each other and nodded in agreement. 

 

“Yes, we will try and bring your people back. Let’s just hope for the best.” Moreaux answered. 

 

The three girls jumped for joy and group-hugged the pair. 

 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” They cheered, bright smiles on their faces. 

 

“We believe in you! We know you can do it!” One of them cheered encouragingly. 

 

“Yeah! We totally saw you throw that huge guy out of the pub earlier! You’re like, crazy strong!” Another girl chimed in, her comment directed at the mage.

 

Idrius turned to the other in shock. “You did what??” He exclaimed, stunned.

 

The girl’s statement had caught Moreaux off guard, trying to clear suspicion of himself, he shook his head frantically.

 

“What?? Me???” He said, looking around himself. “I think you may have mistaken me for someone else, that couldn’t have been me!” He tried to lie through, but knew it was already too late seeing Idrius’s very-unimpressed eyes were unmoving from his.


	11. 11: Take

The next morning, the sun shone brightly through the window, blinding Idrius and calling him to wake up. He blinked a few times before sitting up and rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes.

He then spotted Moreaux, fully awake and dressed for the day. He was sitting on the edge of his already-made bed, appearing to be in deep thought. His hand was on his chin, his eyes were narrowed slightly.

Idrius swung his legs off the side of his bed, and began pulling on his shoes and buttoning his shirt collar. When Moreaux still did not budge from his position when he finished, he tried to get his attention by waving his hand in front of his face.

The wizard came back to reality, his shoulders raised in surprise as the other's hand appeared in front of his eyes. "Ah, sorry, Idrius.. I was just thinking about something." He said as he recollected himself.

"Is there something troubling you?" Idrius asked, crossing his arms as he awaited his response.

"Well, this feeling has been bothering me lately..." Moreaux paused, rethinking his choice of wording. "I felt as if I've known you for a very long time. Even when I met you back at Nyderis forest, I felt as if I knew who you were. I just didn't know who you resembled to me. It was as if I knew you as a person I've never met before. It worries me because I can't even explain it.. That's quite strange, isn't it?" He explained, turning to Idrius with a puzzled expression plastered on his face.

"Yes, I don't mean any offense, but it is a little strange, considering I've never met, nor seen you before anywhere." Idrius agreed, also fairly perplexed at his statement.

"Hm.. Oh well," he said, shrugging. "Enough of my mindless blabbering, that isn't very important right now. I apologize for causing a false alarm. We have other issues to worry about." Moreaux finished, standing up from the bed and heading towards the door. Idrius followed him out, shutting the door behind him.

&&&&&&&&

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you.

I will never forgive you. I will never forgive you. I will never forgive you. I will never forgive you. I will never forgive you. I w ill never forgive you. I will n ever forgi ve you. I will neverforgiveyou. Iwillneverforgive iwillneverforgiveyou iwillneverforgiveyou I willneverfor giveyou willneverforgive neverforgive ne verforgiveneverforgiveneverforgiveneve rforgiveneverforgiveneverforgiveneverforgiveneverforgi

\- - - - - -

The two stood at the northern city gates, ready to go search for the missing people of the village. Moreaux pulled out his map and examined where they needed to go.

"There should be an oasis just a little north of Saredus. We will be able to reach there before dark."

Idrius nodded as he reviewed the map alongside him.

"Moreaux! Idrius!"

Both of them turned to see the three girls running to them as fast as their legs could carry them.

All three of them ran full speed into Idrius, knocking him onto the ground. Moreaux just laughed as his partner was easily swept off his feet. The girls giggled happily before standing, allowing him to get up.

"Please come back safely!" Chonon wished.

"Yeah, and if you're dead, you're... Dead!" Edia huffed.

"We will pray for your safety." Falvi clasped her hands together.

The pair thanked the girls for their kind words, and the trio sent them off waving their arms in hopes of giving them luck. Idrius and Moreaux began another journey once again.

&&&&&&&&

The desert was calm, and the day was bright. The sun stood high in the sky, observing the two from above as they made their way towards the designated area.

As they were walking, Idrius pondered their conversation the night before and this morning. He had some questions. The ones that he thought about the most were "Why couldn't he hear what the kids in his village were saying?", "Why did his mother fall ill so suddenly and so quickly?", and "What in the world was Moreaux talking about this morning?" It all made no sense to him.

Time had passed through the comfortable quiet as the sun sunk lower and lower, turning the sky into a blazing inferno.

The two had come across a sand dune, obscuring their view of the rest of the desert. Idrius was the first to reach the top of the hill, and once he saw what was on the other side, he ducked down immediately, holding out a hand to silence Moreaux.

"What did you see?" The mage whispered, after seeing his partner's sudden gesture.

"It's a group of bandits. I believe they have the people from Saredus hostage. The appear to be setting up camp for the night." He answered, his voice hushed as to not alert the enemy.

"At least we have located their position and we know they are alive. Nightfall is not a long wait. That is when we make our move to rescue the people." Moreaux gave a nod.

"Do you have a plan?" Idrius asked.

"Yes. Once it's dark, you will go around to where the hostages are being held. If you see and bandits guarding that tent, take them out. You will escort the hostages out of the back quietly and take them behind the dune. I will watch you carefully in case anything goes awry. Once the people are out, bring them behind me. You can leave the rest of the bandits. I will take care of them." The other instructed meticulously.

"Are you going to..?" Idrius asked, he didn't finish his sentence, but the wizard knew exactly what he was going to say.

"What?" He gasped. "No! I would never take lives in front of a "pure soul" like you! I have set up another way to get rid of them, without costing them their lives. I'm not that cold-hearted." Moreaux replied, mocking and poking fun at Idrius.

"I see.." Idrius said stiffly.

"Are confident you can pull off your side of the plan?"

"Yes, I'm sure." He responded.

"Good. Let's keep a lookout on them." Moreaux proposed.

&&&&&&&&

Once it was sundown, the bandits had finished setting up camp and the hostages were led into a large tent near the end of their base. A group of 5 men, all with their hands tied behind their backs were the ones being held captive. One bandit was in guarding front of the line, another one from behind.

The two saw both guards standing outside where the hostages were kept, pacing around the tent. One of them would occasionally look inside the tent to check on the captives for any suspicious behavior or if any were trying to escape. The rest of the bandits were surrounding the fire laughing and having their meal. In total, a group of 12.

Idrius would have to act quickly while one of the guards went inside the tent to overlook the hostages.

He crept up close to the side of the canvas shelter, using the dark as camouflage. The second he saw the one of the guards go inside the tent, he grabbed the one closest to him, choking him out until he was unconscious. The bandit struggled and clawed at his arms furiously, but was unable to make any noise loud enough for his comrades to hear. Once the guard's body went limp, he dragged the body over to the side, laying it down quietly as he waited for the next crook.

The second guard came out of the tent with caution, a knife in his hand. Idrius's heart rate rose as he saw the weapon drawn, but was able to remain calm. He couldn't risk hitting the guard becuase it would make too much noise. He waited for the bandit to turn his back on him so he could attack.

Once the lookout turned away, Idrius lunged for the man's neck, and hauled him inside the tent with the hostages. The man flailed about wildly, giving Idrius multiple cuts on the arm with the knife. He threw the man to the ground and knocked the weapon from his hand. While he was still down, he pressed a forearm against his neck, using his other hand as leverage and pushed down until the man stopped moving.

Idrius got up steadily and breathed out. He went back out and brought the other guard inside the tent. He motioned the hostages, all their eyes on him, to stay quiet as he untied them from their restraints. Once they were all free, they helped Idrius tie up the two knocked out guards with the rope.

When that was completed, he signaled them to remain silent as they followed him out of the tent, one by one, back to where his partner was.

The mage had gotten ready while Idrius was carrying out his side of the blueprint. He opened his spell book, once again magic circles appearing around him. The book floated up from his hands, flipping to the page the spell he were to use. He began his incantation, chanting the sacred words of the hex. He then held out his hand to the side, a luminous ball of energy forming.

Idrius watched as the other's adroit hand gestures and nimble fingers seemed to aid in the globe's growth. Moreaux, seeing Idrius and the hostages next to him, was ready to put the spell into action.

He then knelt down to ground, and forced the energy ball into the earth, sending a wave of magic towards the bandit camp. The tide traveled quickly, sweeping across the legs of the bandits, stretching all the way into the dark horizon. By this time, the bandits spotted Idrius, Moreaux, and the hostages outside the camp, raising their weapons in anger. The group of thieves began running towards them at the dune. The spell appeared to have no effect on the enemy whatsoever.

The mechanic turned to his partner in alarm. "Moreaux! What—" Idrius was then interrupted by the wailing screams of the bandits in pain. One at a time, each of them would clutch at their heads, their knees collapsing underneath them, their shrieks of misery emitting across the night desert. Soon enough, the group was on the ground, thrashing their bodies, their cries unceasing. 

Idrius looked over at him, even in the dark, he could see a look of pure delight on his face.

"What...What did you do to them..?" He asked the other fearfully, tearing his eyes away from the unfolding scene.

Moreaux turned to him, a nefarious smile on his face. "I made them wish they were dead." He chuckled, bringing a hand up to his own cheek, his eyes unmoving from the camp. "Do not fret, their agony will subside soon. The process of wiping their memory does not last long. The amount of energy I used in the orb determines how much of their memory gets erased. They should forget what happened from the past week or so." He reassured, turning and beginning to walk in the other direction.

As he faced the rescued hostages, he flashed a bright smile at their horror-filled expressions and strode back over the dune. The way the moonlight reflected in his eyes made his gesture even more unnerving.

Idrius stood aghast for a few seconds before motioning the people to follow, guaranteeing that they were on their side and that no harm would come to them.

He then jogged up to Moreaux's side, saying, "I never realized memory wiping was painful."

"I believe you would know this well. Anything that has to do with memories is painful. Even if they were happy, they were only happy in that moment. Then it becomes just that of a memory, and we cannot experience those true feelings ever again." The other replied without looking back.

Idrius fell silent after hearing his words.

Just after then, one of the men that was rescued ran up next to the two.

"I can't thank you enough for your help. I was thinking you guys were coming after to hurt us as well. I thought we'd never get saved." He said, relieved. "By the way, how did you know we were in trouble?" The man asked.

"Assuming you are Erolath, your daughters informed us of your disappearance from Saredus." Moreaux answered.

"Edia, Falvi, Chonon..." Erolath whispered, looking down at the ground.

"Once we reach Saredus, there is something I must discuss with you. It is crucial to the well-being of this country." Moreaux said.

"Oh, of course! Anything!" Erolath replied instantly. " I am in your debt."

&&&&&&&&

It was already sunrise by the time the group returned to Saredus.

People saw them from afar at the city gates, calling their families over in a hurry. The three girls also spotted them, and began running towards their father.

Tripping and stumbling over their own feet, they eventually made their way into their father's arms. Moreaux and Idrius watched in content as all the people they rescued were reunited with their loved ones.

They were suddenly pulled into the family hug by Chonon, an embrace of gratitude surrounding them.

&&&&&&&&&

"You said you needed to speak with me, right? My house is right over on this corner, we'll talk there." Erolath arranged.

"That sounds good, thank you." Moreaux answered.

As they were walking, Idrius heard a gasp from behind him.

"Idrius! What happened to your arm?" Edia exclaimed, running over to his side and taking his arm into her hands. Chonon and Falvi followed after her.

Idrius had completely forgotten about his injuries, remembering that the bandit did a number on him.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll be alright—" he tried to soothe her concern, but was cut off by her determination.

"No! We need to fix it! You can't go around like this! I won't stand for it!" Edia cried.

"Yeah! We'll take care of it! We're experts, anyway!" Chonon added in, her chest puffed out and her hands on her hips proudly.

"You can count on us." Falvi said, her fist raised.

"Come on, girls! We have an emergency!" Edia shouted, dragging along Idrius into the house with Chonon and Falvi at her tail. The four of them quickly disappeared from sight, leaving Moreaux and Erolath to themselves.

"Oh my... I hope he'll be okay." The mage sighed.

&&&&&&&&

Moreaux and Erolath sat across from each other at a table, a map spread out. The man reviewed the blueprint of Kraemos carefully.

"If I'm not mistaken, you know of Olias's whereabouts?" Moreaux asked him.

"I believe so. Not too long ago, I've received intel from a relative in the city of Agathos that Olias was there. They also said that he was seen, but he wasn't attacking or anything. I don't know if he's still lingering, but..." Erolath replied, pointing at an un-circled city far out north from Saredus labeled "Agathos".

"It's fine, we may be able to ask the villagers if he has already made his leave or not. Although... That's quite a long travel." Moreaux commented, placing a hand on his chin as he thought.

Erolath was quiet as he was thinking as well, but then spoke up a few seconds later. "I believe I've seen it once, but I think I saw a wizard travel through the oases. He just jumped into the oasis I was headed to, and I heard he popped out through another oasis in a different part of the country." Erolath said, looking up as he peered through his own memories. He looked back down at the map and pointed out an oasis not too far from Agathos. "There, if you are able to travel through the oasis near here, you might just get to Agathos in no time."

"Did that wizard cast a spell or something to open a portal?" Moreaux asked, intrigued by this new information.

"Yes, I think he did some kind of magic before hopping in..." Erolath recalled.

The wizard had thought about Erolath's theory, claiming it to be plausible. He had something up his sleeve to see if it was really true. He decided it would be best to test it out when they leave tomorrow.

"Thank you, Erolath. You've been a great help." Moreaux said as he stood up from his seat, stretching out a hand towards the other man.

"No, I should be thanking you! I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you and your friend." He said taking the mage's hand in his, giving it a firm shake.

"Oh, speaking of your friend, I hope my girls didn't mess him up too much.." He said sheepishly with a nervous laugh. "Come with me, they should be in their room." He replied, leading him to where the girls were fixing up Idrius.

Soft giggling could be heard from outside the door, both Erolath and Moreaux gave each other a side glance. Turning the door handle and pushing the door open, they both saw that the three girls had completely wrapped up Idrius in bandages from head to toe. The only thing that was not covered up in bandage were his eyes, seemingly spelling out the word, "help".

Erolath began to panic, chasing his three daughters around the room, while Moreaux tried to not to laugh as he removed the bandages.


	12. 13: Unable

𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵.

 

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬; 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

 

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙄𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚.”  𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴.

 

“𝙔𝙤𝙪... 𝘼𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚..” 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯. 

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴.

 

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝘼𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚.. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩...” 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵. 

 

𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

 

𝘈 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.

 

“𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣?” 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥.

 

𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳— 𝘰𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

 

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.“𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙..” 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴’𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

 

“𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.” 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. “...𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.. 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩.”𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵.

 

“𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮.” 𝘈𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴.

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵; 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.

 

“𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚..” 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘐𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘴.

 

“𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙩.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Idrius opened his eyes, but no light greeted him, as it was very early in the morning and the sun had not risen yet. He attempted going back to sleep, but he just couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. 

 

He sighed and sat up in his bed, leaning his back against the headboard. He blinked in the dim room, bringing his knees up to his chest and propping up his elbows as he thought about what Aorine said to him.

 

“𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚.”

 

𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱. 

 

𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 

 

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦?

 

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦..

 

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦?

 

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 

𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺.

 

𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦.

 

𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.

 

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮.

 

𝘈 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯. 

 

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

 

Thoughts infested his mind; it was as if he’d lost all his senses and was just floating through air. He believed it was fear that was preying on his mentality, but regret and guilt seemed to kill him even more so. 

 

“I need to get ahold of myself. I need to calm down.” Idrius thought frantically. He breathed deeply in and out, relaxing his muscles and slowing his unending speculations. “𝘐𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.” He repeated in his head until he believed it.

 

He did not notice the sun sneaking up on him until its powerful rays struck him in the eyes. The sun peered through the window and shone brightly, illuminating the area around him.

 

Its warm beams did help in soothing his worries, banishing the dark aura that flooded the room. He then heard a groan and shuffling next to him; turning his head, he saw Moreaux sitting up on the edge of his bed. 

 

Sleep clearly still clung to him, forcing his eyes to remain shut. The wizard rubbed the tiredness away and stretched his arms up. Upon adjusting to the luminosity of the bedroom, he was met with an already-wide-awake Idrius for a second time.

 

“Oh, it seems like you took my joke last night seriously.” Moreaux clowned, chuckling at his own humor. He gave Idrius a comforting smile nearly as bright as the room itself.

 

On the outside, Idrius had no reaction whatsoever. But inside, seeing the other’s cheerful attitude almost made him want to smile back.

 

Almost.

 

&&&&&&&

 

The pair stood in front of the northern city gates once again, checking on the supplies for their journey back to the oasis. 

 

“It seems we have everything we need for the travel. It should also be efficient for a few more days if needed.” Idrius said to the other, giving him a nod.

 

“That’s good, we should—“ 

 

“Moreaux! Idrius!” 

 

Moreaux’s words were cut off by the three girls calling out their names from afar. Running at full speed, they were headed in Idrius’s direction again.

 

But right before they reached him, he quickly dodged, sending the girls flying straight into Moreaux and knocking him flat on his back.

 

Erolath followed close behind his daughters, stopping short to catch his breath. He slumped forward with his hands on his knees panting and sweating. After a few seconds, he stood up straight and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

 

“Agh, those girls never learn, do they..” He mumbled in defeat, walking over to where they were to collect them. One by one, he picked up each of them off Moreaux and held them in his arms. 

 

“Sorry about that, they’re just excited to see you both.” Erolath said, rubbing their heads with his hand in playful punishment.

 

Moreaux stood up slowly, brushing the dust off his clothes and hair before giving a soft smile. “It’s quite alright, we’re just as happy to see them as they are to see us. Isn’t that right, Idrius?” Moreaux gritted, giving his partner a smack on the arm, quite possibly because of the unexpected embarrassment Idrius had wreaked upon him.

 

“You are correct, Moreaux.” Idrius replied with a nonchalant nod. The three girls then wriggled out of their father’s grasp and landed in front of the duo, each with their hands clasped together, they bowed deeply.

 

“Thank you so much for everything! We can't thank you enough!” Edia cried.

 

"We will be rooting for you wherever you are!” Falvi added.

 

"Please come back again soon!” Chonon finished.

 

Edia, glancing at her father, went over to him and whispered something in his ear, inaudible to Idrius and Moreaux. In a matter of seconds, Erolath stood alongside his daughters, and bowed as well. 

 

“Thank you dearly for saving me, and helping me reunite with the lights of my life. I surely hope the best for you both.” Erolath said, his voice filled to the brim with gratefulness.

 

Moreaux became surprised, walking over and pulling each of them to a straight standing position one by one.

 

“Oh, no, no, no! Please, pick yourselves up, there’s no need for such formality! We should also be thankful to you for helping us with our lodgings, the important information, and being able to meet such wonderful people, such as you!” He said with an accompanying smile.

 

All of them had a laugh, replacing in the gloomy feeling of departure with happiness and hope. 

 

&&&&&&&

 

They left Saredus, and the duo set on their way once again, heading towards the nearby oasis that would hopefully help them reach Agathos in no more than a quick trip. 

 

It was quiet between the two of them for some time, but a question had suddenly popped into Idrius’s head. 

 

“You mentioned something about using a spell on the oasis, correct? Do you have something in mind?” Idrius asked as they walked.

 

“Yes, but I don’t really have a specific spell for opening the portal in the oasis.” Moreaux replied, his back to him.

 

“Hm? What do you mean?” The mechanic reacted, his tone was that of slight confusion.

 

“But,” Moreaux began. “I do have a way to go about this, do not worry. It’s just that I usually refrain from performing the method most of the time, due to its after effects.”

 

“I see..” Idrius uttered. “But if you dislike the side effects to such an extent that it causes you to purposely avoid this procedure, then why are you so sanguine on going through with it?” He questioned. 

 

“I am willing to go past my limits in order to complete our mission to stop Olias. I hope you are also willing do the same.” Moreaux answered as he strode on in front of him. “After all... You agreed that you would aid me, did you not?” He brought up, his head turning to face him.

 

Their past conversation back at Moreaux’s residence in Nyderis forest echoed in Idrius’s mind. 

 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 

 

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳?” 

 

“𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥.”

 

Idrius closed his eyes as the memory ended. 

 

“Yes, I am aware.” He said, lowering his eyes down to the sands beneath his feet.

 

“Could it be...” The mage pondered, stopping in his tracks. He turned to face the other, with a finger pointed at him and a slight smile appearing, he proposed, “You’re worried about me?”

 

His partner let out a sigh and shook his head. “You’ve got it wrong, I was just curious as to why—“ He started, but was cut off once again.

 

Moreaux turned back and continued walking. “Ah, I knew it! My, I’m flattered~..” He said, twirling around and placing a hand over his chest. He chuckled softly to himself. 

 

Idrius hung his head low and sighed, bringing his palm up to his face over his eyes and shaking his head side to side.

 

&&&&&&&

 

After a few more hours of walking across the heated desert, they came upon the sand dune where they had spotted the group of bandits just less than two days ago. The burnt firewood of the camp was the only thing that had remained. The two were relieved to see that the bandits had not made their way towards Saredus. 

 

From the top of the hill, the oasis that the people from the city were headed to was in sight, not too far away. 

 

The sun hung low in the sky, indicating that its shift was coming to an end. The pair paced themselves quickly in order to make it to the oasis before the sun had completely set. 

 

The heavens had become a heavy purple and the clouds presented their golden linings as the sky grew dimmer; the two closed in on the oasis.

 

Moreaux sighed in relief, thanking whatever entity was out there for being able to make it  without running into any trouble. With not a second to waste, he pulled out his spell book; six glowing magic circles appeared around him instantaneously. 

 

The book rose from his touch steadily as he outstretched a hand, his palm facing the sky, towards the oasis. 

 

“I need you to stand back, Idrius.” He directed, a slight stern tone in his voice. Idrius did as he was told, walking a few paces back from the wellspring.

 

The wizard then raised his other hand upward; once the motion was completed, one of his magic circles floated over horizontally above the oasis. From his already outstretched hand, he curled in his fingers, causing another magic circle to rise up from the oasis itself; it contained emblems completely different from that of Moreaux’s usual magic circles. 

 

When the two magic circles were parallel with each other above the pond, he then shot out his pointer finger on his raised hand, and slowly lowered it to his other beneath. 

 

The magic circles obeyed his commands, closing the gap between them. Then, with both hands, he forcibly gestured the combined magic circles onto the surface of the pond with both his palms open, fronting the earth. The stray magic circle  had disappeared into thin air, while Moreaux’s original was still intact, only with the same symbols as the already faded circle. 

 

The area surrounding the oasis began to glow slightly, magical particles rose up from the water and danced around the spring. Moreaux sighed and lowered his arms, putting the book away; his magic circles dissolving.

 

He looked down at his wrist where the Zeveth bracelet was, finding that it glowed brightly as he stood next to the pond. “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺..” He thought gratefully.

 

As Idrius watched from a distance away, he figured out what Moreaux had done. “𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤.” He thought to himself. Seeing that the mage's spell was completed, he went back over to his side and gazed at the glowing waters. 

 

“The pond is quite beautiful, isn’t it?” Moreaux commented with a soft smile as Idrius approached. 

 

Before his partner could respond, the wizard staggered back suddenly, blood flowed from his nose, and quickly made its way down his chin, dripping onto the sands below. Idrius did not know how to react, as this was too sudden.

 

 Moreaux groaned, his body swaying. He felt dizzy, like the world was spinning around him at great speeds. He heard muffled shouts of his name and recognized the familiar figure of Idrius, but couldn’t reach out to him in time before all he could see was pure white.


	13. 14: Only

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴.

 

"𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚?"

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴, 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. 

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭.

 

“𝘼 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙?”

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳.

 

“𝙉𝙤... 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

 

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 

 

𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵, 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭.

 

“𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨? 𝙅𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙮? 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧? 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡?”

 

𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵? 

 

𝘚𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺’𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭. 

 

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮; 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘥.

 

“𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨? 𝙄𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜..”

 

“𝙄𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙮.. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩.”

 

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵.. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵?

 

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.

 

The wizard jolted alive, opening his eyes and sitting up quickly, breathing hard.“𝘎𝘦𝘦𝘻... 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴.” He looked below him, seeing the starry night sky underneath his legs. 

 

“What...” He breathed as he stood up slowly. 

 

“Have you forgotten already? You opened the portal to the oasis. It’s only been a couple of minutes since you passed out.” His partner's voice rang from behind and reminded him that it was still real life. 

 

“It turns out that when you opened the portal and I brought you in, everything became inverted, and we are now standing on the underside of the earth.” He said, pointing at the sky under Moreaux’s feet. 

 

“That hole, is actually the surface of the oasis. We can still see the sky, but it is below us instead of above us.” Idrius continued. 

 

“Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for explaining, Idrius.” Moreaux said, fairly surprised due to Idrius’s behavior.  

 

“May I have an explanation of what exactly happened to you?” Idrius asked of him. “Tell me as we walk down this tunnel, as it seems to be the only way to go.” He said straightforwardly, wasting no time to get a move on.

 

The mage watched as Idrius began walking. He’d never heard the other talk so much in one sitting, or asked something from him until now. “𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺..” He thought as he began walking to catch up with Idrius.

 

&&&&&&&

 

“So tell me.. Were those the side effects you feared when you performed the duplication spell?” Idrius questioned Moreaux, staring intently at the ground as they trekked down the tunnel.

 

“When I perform the duplication spell, I feel disoriented, I get heavy nosebleeds, and I receive a glimpse into the owner of the spell I replicated’s memories— which explains why I fainted. I believe the reason why I react this way is due to the spell not being one of my own. If I involve myself with the magic of others, I pay a physical price.” Moreaux made clear. 

 

“That is plausible. You mentioned you saw someone else’s memories? What was it of?” Th mechanic grew curious, turning his head to Moreaux.

 

“I’m not quite sure about the interpretation or who the true owner of the memory is, but I believe it was about a boy being envious of a girl his entire life. Although.. I have no knowledge of who they are or their relationship whatsoever. His jealousy kept growing with coming years, and he seemingly never let it go.” Moreaux answered, recalling what he’d just experienced.

 

“Maybe they’re rivals?” Idrius suggested, looking down the long tunnel which presented to be never ending.

 

“Maybe so. I have done the process of duplicating spells more than once, but usually the problems in the memories get resolved in the end— this is the first one I’ve seen that did not reach a resolution.” Moreaux responded, narrowing his eyes. “𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴..” He thought.

 

“The reason why I dislike the side effects is not because of the dizziness or nosebleeds, it’s the memories themselves; the reason being, it makes me forget they’re not my own. I think so deeply about them that on some occasions, I could believe I had experienced them.” He added, rubbing his head and giving it a slow shake.

 

“That sounds quite perplexing, I must say.. Do any of your other spells or methods have the same effects?” Idrius inquired. 

 

“Not really, but there is a procedure that can harm any or all magic users. That is when you break one of their casted magic seals. Seals can be broken with other more powerful spells, when a sacred object rich with magical properties is removed from the place from where it was sealed, or when the person that casted the seal has passed into the beyond.” Moreaux replied.

 

“What kind of damage does breaking a seal do?” Idrius wondered. 

 

“Well, I’ve never experienced it for myself, but I know my mentor, Junis, and my mother have. Both had similar responses to the breaking of one of their seals. The two described it as a sharp pain throughout the entire body, almost like that of being electrocuted times ten. It only lasts about a few seconds, but if more than one seal is broken at the same time, the pain adds up. It is rare, but seal-breaking may also result in the loss of the memory on why the seal was casted in the first place. For example, if a seal trapping an evil being was broken and the user of the seal had forgotten why they casted it from the start, they may not know that the imprisoning of the corrupt entity is their responsibility, causing them to neglect it or have no knowledge on what to do about it.” The other explained thoroughly. 

 

“Hm... As you mentioned before, a seal can be broken when the person that casted it passed away, and when you were telling me about your origins, you said that your mother used seals on your rune. Since she has passed, wouldn’t the seals on your rune be broken?” Idrius asked him, scratching his head in confusion.

 

“My, I’m glad you pick up on small details, Idrius. You have a good memory, it almost makes me a little jealous.." The wizard applauded, crossing his arms.

 

Idrius paid no mind to Moreaux praises, awaiting the answer to his question.

 

“But no, the seals on my rune were not broken though she already passed. The reason being, I had inherited nearly all of her magic, and even her magic circle. Which means, no matter if she passed, it would not be broken because the magic was transferred to me, even though she was the one that casted the seal.” He responded, raising a finger as he summarized. 

 

Idrius nodded as he listened and took in the information. He was about to ask another question, but the pair had come across a large stone fountain that consisted four tiers and a statue of a beautiful being with a long cloak and streams of hair, resting on top of it. The tiers had carving designs like that of blankets of ivy and blooming flowers. The liquid flowed from level to level, running like calming music. The water was a clear blue, and a few coins had been tossed in. 

 

Both Idrius and Moreaux stared in awe at the enchanting well. As they were about to continue their way, a soft voice rang out. 

 

“I am Eíd, the guardian of the Fountain of Truth. Look into the waters and see your true desires.” 

 

“Where is that voice coming from?” Moreaux asked, looking around but saw no one. 

 

“It is I, the statue upon the fountain, for I speak to you.” The voice said. The pair turned to look at the art as it spoke.

 

“Come, look into the waters. I will see to you, and your true intentions.” It spoke again.

 

The two looked at each other, the mage giving a shrug. He was the first to step up, and Idrius became quite surprised. He believed that Moreaux was the type to be suspicious of these things, considering his wary personality.

 

The wizard went up close and leaned over the side of the fountain, peering at his own reflection in the clear water.

 

In a matter of seconds, his reflection became that of distorted and warped, even though the water was still. 

 

“What does this mean?” He asked, looking up at the statue once again.

 

“It appears you long to understand something you will never be able to reach. It is withheld from you— by whom, that I do not know of. But, you will never gain knowledge on it for the rest of your life. I believe it would be best to learn more about yourself from those around you.” The statue answered, their soft voice wispy and fairy-like.

 

“Learn more about myself from others?” Moreaux muttered to himself as he left the fountain side. He appeared to be in deep thought as he turned around to walk back to his original place. 

 

Idrius then took his spot in front of the fountain, and leaned over the rim, glancing into the water. He saw his reflection for a split second, then instantly, all the water running in the fountain transformed from crystal clear blue to pitch black darkness.

 

He backed away slightly in fear, wondering if he’d done something wrong. The darkness even began to phase into the tiers under the statue’s feet, spreading across the fountain in a matter of minutes.

 

“I see you, Idrius..” The statue sputtered, its voice saddened. “It’s not your fault..” It cried in a hushed tone.

 

Moreaux walked over to Idrius’s side, confusion in his eyes. “What happened?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowed together. Idrius just shook his head and shrugged, he was just as confused as he was. They both turned their heads to the statue, waiting for it to speak once more.

 

The statue said nothing for a few moments, but  then its voice barely pierced the silence. 

 

“Your desires...” It began.

 

         

              “Are no longer of this world.”

 

 

After the words were spoken, the statue fell quiet, as it said nothing more. Black tears can be seen trickling from the statue’s eyes, falling into the dark waters beneath it.

 

Moreaux glanced over at Idrius’s reaction, seeing the other’s gaze unmoving from the statue’s. Growing concerned, he took his partner by the arm and pulled him away from the fountain.

 

“Idrius, let’s go.” The mage ordered, tugging on his sleeve slightly. Idrius turned to face him slowly and gave a faint nod.

 

“Yeah.”


	14. 15: Bloom

Idrius and Moreaux continued walking down the long tunnel in silence. Quite some time had passed until they saw a large silver gate when they turned a corner. Two other people stood waiting by the structure, a heavily-armored young woman, and an elegantly dressed young man, leaning against the walls of the underpass.

 

The strangers stood up straight as they saw the pair approaching from afar. 

 

The man met them halfway, waltzing up to the both them with a grin on his face, as the armored lady followed closely behind him. 

 

“Greetings, youthful wanderers, and welcome to the city of Ceiri! My name is Drael, it is such an honor to meet you.” He said cheerfully, outstretching a hand for them to shake. 

 

The two looked at the man’s hand, then at him, their stares blank. They both refrained from returning the gesture and said nothing. Drael pulled back his hand and cleared his throat awkwardly.

 

“Not much for warm welcomes, huh?” He remarked with a chuckle.

 

“Mister Drael, tell me this. Why were you expecting us at these gates?” Moreaux demanded, his voice calm but stern.

 

“Why, the empress of Ceiri awaits you! This fine lady with me, Rikon, is her royal guard.” The supposed "Drael" held out his hand in front of her.

 

The armored lady stepped up and bowed at the waist. “It is a pleasure to meet you both. Empress Isio would like to see you two in person. The reason— word has gotten around that you will be taking care of Olias, is that right? Well, she wishes to discuss plans in assisting you.” Rikon said. 

 

“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺..?” Idrius was caught in disbelief. His gaze roamed about the other two, then in the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure with a familiar cloak standing behind them. It waved at him; it was as if Idrius was the only one that could see them. His eyes then widened in shock.

 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘴! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?” Idrius sought to find the reason. “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴..?”

 

He blinked and rubbed his eyes, though when he opened them, the figure was nowhere to be found.

 

Drael noticed Idrius's actions. “Are you feeling alright? Well, I guess I can’t blame you, it is a little late.” He commented.

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” Idrius responded, his eyes quickly shifting to the ground. 

 

“Assisting us, huh? I wonder..” Moreaux thought out loud to himself. 

 

“Sir Drael, we must get moving, the empress is waiting.” Rikon reminded, turning to walk through the gates. 

 

“Ah, yes of course. If you would, please, come this way.” Drael directed, turning around and motioning a “follow me” gesture at the two.

 

“Wait a minute, how do we know if we can trust you? All of this could just be a trap.” The wizard asked, raising a hand to halt Drael as he stood his ground.

 

The man turned back to face the two and walked up to them. Leaning close, his tall figure casted a shadow that loomed over. He then said, “It’s up to you whether you trust us or not. You have to get to Agathos, yes? You want to locate Olias, yes? Let me enlighten you; the only possible way you can get there is by the guidance of a member of authority from the palace. There are also multiple smaller cities under the earth other than Ceiri, so getting lost is at its highest here. You are unable to come back the way you came, which means, the only way out is through us.” 

 

Moreaux and Idrius met with a side glance and the mechanic lowered his head slightly, shaking it with his eyes closed. The other understood, looking up at Drael in defeat but his eyes narrow and dead. 

 

“We will not trust you, period.” Moreaux said sharply, holding his glare. “But.. It seems we have no choice when it comes to following your conditions.” He grumbled, tearing his eyes away and looking to the side. 

 

Drael moved away from the pair, a smile on his face and a hand on his hip. “That’s fair enough. Let us be on our way then.” He said, turning back again and walking next to Rikon. “Your names are Moreaux and Idrius, correct?” He asked, tilting his head back.

 

Moreaux almost wanted to tell him he was wrong, but instead he gave a small nod. 

 

The two walked a distance from Drael and Rikon, being cautious as they scaled the night city. 

 

Ceiri, a large bustling metropolis hidden from the lands above it, was always filled with life and commotion. There was no time of the day where it would rest. It was no surprise that Ceiri was unheard of, or even on any map, since nobody knew how to get to it. 

 

The shops, vendors, and sights are open for twenty-four hours a day. Not only that, but the palace gates are also open, allowing anyone walk on palace grounds to admire the stunning architecture and gardens; with supervision of trained guards, of course. 

 

This city was almost dreamlike, by reason of, there is a sky. It shows night, day, sun, moon, and stars— even weather, just like a normal city above-ground would have. It is unclear whether it is the doing of magic or not. 

 

“Sir Drael, I’m getting an incoming message from the empress.” Rikon looked up at the taller man as she spoke.

 

“Is that so? Would you be so kind as to answer it?” Drael replied, looking back at the lady. Rikon nodded and held out her hand. Then, a translucent image of the empress’s head and shoulder area appeared from a small magic circle above her palm.

 

From behind, Idrius and Moreaux could only hear what Rikon’s responses were, not the statements from the empress.

 

“Your Majesty, is there something you need?”

 

“Yes, they’re both here with me.”

 

“Ah, I apologize, it took some time.”

 

“I understand, I will see to it in the future.”

 

“Oh? Are you feeling well?”

 

“Alright, I will let them know.”

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Goodbye.”

 

The guard finished speaking, the image of the empress disappearing as she lowered her hand. She turned around to face the pair and said, “Since it is a bit late, the empress will see you two first thing in the morning. You will stay at the palace’s quarters for tonight, as she has already ordered servants prepare you a meal and for clothes to be brought to your designated rooms.”

 

&&&&&&&

 

The group had finally reached the large palace, the view of the structure on the inside was nearly as breathtaking as the outside. Elaborate lamps were lighted around the royal residence, making the villa seem even more surreal than it already was.

 

The steps leading up towards the main entrance were decorated with various exotic potted plants, some being familiar to Moreaux. Two enormous marble pillars stood guard at the top of the stairs, their capitals and bases lined with gold.

 

Rikon pushed open the heavy palace doors to bring the great hall into view. The ceiling was far out of reach, adorned with beautiful, colorful murals of gods. Servants lined the walls, each greeting them with a “hello” or a “welcome”. 

 

An older woman at the end of the hall stood patiently in front of what looked like an altar of sorts.

 

She had a friendly, bright face, with sparkling, aged eyes. She gave a wave to the guests of honor. “My name is Jaravi, I am the head servant of Empress Isio. I will show you to your rooms for the night, then you will get changed so you two may have your meal afterwards.” The woman said with a smile.

 

“Alright, I’ll leave them to you, Jaravi. I will go to my own room to get some rest.” Drael entrusted as he stretched his arms up and yawned. “Good night to you as well, Rikon.” He added, as he turned around and began to walk away.

 

“Goodnight, Sir Drael.” Rikon responded after him. Her eyes moved from the pair to Jaravi before nodding. “I will take my leave as well, goodnight to you all.” She said, walking out of the hall.

 

Jaravi waved to her and turned her attention to Idrius and Moreaux. “So then, shall we?” She asked, walking past them down another hall. Both of them nodded and followed close behind the lady.

 

“What can you tell me about Empress Isio?” Moreaux asked, sparking a conversation to learn more about their likely ally they were to meet tomorrow.

 

“Ah, I’ve known her since she was a little baby. From the time she became empress at the age of seventeen, Ceiri has been washed over with fortune. She is loved by her people, and wishes to serve them greatly during her reign as their ruler. I have never met anyone more passionate, strong, and admirable as her. Empress Isio is in accordance when it comes to the fall of Olias, just as you two are. Even though Ceiri is on the underside of the earth, she fears there may be a way for him to reach here, putting into consideration that he, along with his subordinates are powerful magic users. She wants to get rid of him as soon as possible, not only for her own people, but for the people above ground as well. I believe you will hear more about this soon.” Jaravi answered, closing her eyes.

 

“I see. Thank you, Miss Jaravi.” Moreaux nodded, his eyes dropping to the marble floor.

 

“Here is your room, young fellow. I had the other servants lay out your clothes on the bed for you. Just leave the outfit you’re wearing now on the bed as well, so we may wash them. They will be returned to your room in the morning. You are welcome to bathe in the bathroom if you wish. And once you are finished, the dining room is back down the hall, through a maroon door.” Jaravi instructed to Moreaux as she opened the door for him.

 

“Thank you again, miss, I appreciate your hard work.” Moreaux said smiling as he entered his own quarters, closing the door behind him.

 

“Now, if you would come with me, young man.” Jaravi directed, walking across the hall. “This is your room here, I hope you were listening to my instructions before?” The older woman chuckled. 

 

“Of course, miss. Thank you for your help, have a goodnight.” Idrius replied with a slight smile.

 

He walked into his room, a large chamber with a queen size bed accompanied by a canopy, a wooden dresser, a closet, a small desk, and a restroom. The room was clean and had beautiful paintings hung on the walls. Idrius felt like he shouldn’t even belong here.

 

He went over to the bed, placing his things nearby on the nightstand. He looked at the neat pile of clothes that rested on the bed. “𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴.” He thought to himself as he picked up the garments and headed to the bathroom.

 

~~~~~~

 

Idrius left the bathroom feeling as fresh as a morning flower. He used a towel to dry his hair before hanging it up on a rack. He then laid out his clothes onto the bed as he was told. He also  remembered to retrieve the Soarith from his pocket and placed it into the pocket of his temporary clothes.

 

He was wearing loose fitting black capris, a simple, baggy, silk white button down, and a light, unsaturated blue colored cotton robe. Each article of clothing had some sort of minimalist golden patterning on it, presumably the palace emblem, and each article of clothing was also a size too big for Idrius. The sleeves of the shirt went well past his hands, as did the robe’s. He sighed and shrugged it off, heading towards the door to leave for the dining room.

 

~~~~~~

 

The mechanic pulled open the maroon door of the dining hall and was greeted by the sight of an extremely long table. On top of the table, lay an embroidered tablecloth and a candle holder with three shoulders; the candles resting on the holder had been set ablaze. A gigantic painting of past rulers sitting holding a staff in one hand and a scale on the other hand served as the backdrop. Four servants stood near the end of the room, they were like statues, quietly watching. It was a little unsettling. 

 

He spotted two plates of food, one sat at the end of the side of the table, while the other rested on the area in the corner from it. Moreaux occupied the seat at the end of the table, so Idrius took the chair next to him. 

 

“Ah, hello, Idrius— Oh my~...” Moreaux breathed, cutting himself off as he caught sight of the other. He gave Idrius an up-and-down with his eyes and held in a smile. 

 

“What is it?” Idrius asked as he sat down, curious as to what the other had seen to make him interrupt himself.

 

“Those clothes...” He started.

 

“..Do not suit you at all—“ The wizard teased, breaking out into a laugh.

 

His partner rolled his eyes at Moreaux's statement. “I know that already, please do not remind me.” He responded with a sigh, picking up his utensils and beginning his meal. 

 

Moreaux was wearing a long silk robe, the colors of mustard yellow, fuchsia, magenta, and black were assorted on the fabric in a brushstroke pattern. On the inside, he was wearing a black long sleeve turtleneck. The black outline of the robe was lined with golden embroidery, making the other colors on the robe more apparent. The clothes fit him quite well, as they were the right size and length for him. Combined with his rune and jewelry, Moreaux actually looked somewhat noble and could possibly pass for a palace resident.

 

The mage then turned in his seat to face the servants saying, “I hate to ask this of you all, but would you mind if my partner and I be left with just a touch of privacy? I wish to speak with him.” 

 

The servants nodded and bowed in a synchronized fashion before exiting the room. Moreaux did not say a word until the door had shut behind them. Even after they had left, he spoke softly. 

 

“Do you not think this is a little sudden? You should not let your guard down here, Idrius. It is strange to me, due to the fact that they, Drael and Rikon, were waiting for us at the city gates. They even knew what our intentions of coming here to Ceiri were. How in the world did they find out? I fear the whole palace may know by now..” He questioned the other quite worriedly.

 

Idrius remained silent for a few seconds, placing down his utensils slowly. 

 

“That night..” The mechanic began. “That night, when I went out from the inn at Saredus, as I was returning, I ran into a fortune teller. They knew my name, including yours, even though we have never met them anywhere else. They knew what our mission was, and more about it; how it will end, the events that would rise. They didn’t tell me what would unfold, but as we came here to Ceiri, at the city gates where we first saw Rikon and Drael, I saw the same fortune teller standing behind them. But, when I blinked, they just disappeared. I feel they may have something to do with the palace’s knowledge of our journey.” He admitted, his eyes lowered and lips pursed.

 

His partner clenched his fist that was resting on the table. “They clearly said something about us to them, if that’s the case.” He said with his teeth gritted. “Also.. Was there a reason why you have not told me sooner?” He asked, looking towards Idrius.

 

“I apologize.. My mind was too occupied that night. I had forgotten to say something in the morning.” Idrius replied, shaking his head and lowering it in contrition.

 

“Ah, yes, I remember that. At least you haven’t kept something that crucial a secret from me.” Moreaux said in relief, a small smile on his face.

 

Idrius nodded in silence. He then recalled what the fortune teller in Saredus had said about him. “𝘐𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦?” Idrius thought to himself, his eyes flickering up to his partner. After a few moments of silence, he then rose from his chair slowly, stepping away from the table. “I will return to my room now. See you in the morning.” 

 

“Alright then. Have a good night, Idrius.” Moreaux responded, propping up his elbows up onto the table and resting his chin on his hands. He watched as Idrius opened the door and left the room, listening as his footsteps grew distant.

 

The wizard was left alone at the large dining table with his thoughts. He sighed and lowered his forearms to the surface of the counter. “𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳?” He pondered, staring down into his glass next to his plate. 

 

His thoughts were then interrupted by a sudden chime of a large grandfather clock in the corner of the room. He looked up, startled by the sound; the clock read twelve midnight. Moreaux shook his head and stood up from his seat. He gave the empty room one last look around before leaving the table side and walking towards the door. 

 

But before opening the door to leave, he stopped as he touched the doorknob. “There is something not right about this place..” He thought, becoming frustrated because the answer he was looking for was not revealing itself to him. “...𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐..?”


End file.
